The speed of my recovery should encourage Rooney

Preston striker David Nugent tells of his astonishingly quick return to football after breaking a metatarsal, a similar injury to that suffered by Wayne Rooney

WAYNE ROONEY was 11 when I first encountered him, a big, strong boy even then. He was playing for Everton schoolboys and I played for Liverpool, even though I’m a lifelong Blue. We played in a few games together.

In March I had scored two goals for Preston against Ipswich and was going for my hat-trick when the ball was whipped in to the far post by Chris Sedgwick. All my weight went on my right side as I lost my footing going for the ball and I felt something go. A shooting pain went into my foot and halfway up my right leg. I tried to stand up and walk it off, but I couldn’t put any pressure on the foot and fell over.